Parliament held at Oxford Soon after King Iohn being then about Twelve Years of Age came into Ireland from Milford to Waterford as his Father had formerly done The Irish Nobility and Gentry immediately repaired to him but being Received by him and his Retinue with some Scorn and Derision by reason of their long rude Beards quas more Patrio grandes habebant prolixas says Giraldus Cambrensis Hib. Expug Cap. 35. they took such Offence thereat that they departed in much Discontent which was the occasion of the young Kings staying so short a time in Ireland as he did this his first time of being here And here before we proceed any farther we shall observe That by this Donation of the Kingdom of Ireland to King Iohn Ireland was most eminently set apart again as a Separate and Distinct Kingdom by it self from the Kingdom of England and did so continue until the Kingdom of England Descended and came unto King Iohn after the Death of his Brother Richard the First King of England which was about Twenty two years after his being made King of Ireland during which space of Twenty two years both whilst his Father Henry the Second and his Brother Richard the First were living and Reigning King Iohn made divers Grants and Charters to his Subjects of Ireland which are yet in being in this Kingdom wherein he stiles himself Dominus Hiberniae the constant Stile till Henry the Eighth's time and in others Dominus Hiberniae Comes Meritoniae By which Charters both the City of Dublin and divers other Corporations enjoy many Priviledges and Franchises to this day But after the said Grant of the Kingdom of Ireland to King Iohn neither his Father Henry II. nor his Brother King Richard I. Kings of England ever stiled themselves during their Lives King or Lord of Ireland for the Dominion and Regality of Ireland was wholly and separately vested in K. Iohn being absolutely Granted unto him without any Reservation And he being Created King in the Parliament at Oxford under the Stile and Title of Lord of Ireland Enjoy'd all manner of Kingly Iurisdiction Preheminence and Authority Royal belonging unto the Imperial State and Majesty of a King as are the Express words of the Irish Statute 33 Hen. VIII c. 1. by which Statute the Stile of Dominus was changed to that of Rex Hiberniae Let us then suppose that Richard the First King Iohn's Elder Brother had not died without Issue but that his Progeny had sat on the Throne of England in a Continued Succession to this Day Let us suppose likewise the same of King Iohn's Progeny in relation to the Throne of Ireland where then had been the Subordination of Ireland to the Parliament or even to the King of England Certainly no such thing could have been then pretended Therefore if any such Subordination there be it must arise from something that followed after the Descent of England to King Iohn for by that Descent England might as properly be Subordinate to Ireland as the converse Ireland being vested in the Royal Person of King Iohn Two and Twenty years before his Accession to the Crown of England and being a more Ancient Kingdom than the Kingdom of England As the English Orators in the Council of Constance An. 1417 confess'd and alledged as an Argument in the Contest between Henry the Fifth's Legates and those of Charles the Sixth King of France for Precedence Satis Constat say they secundum Albertum Magnum Bartholomeum de Proprietatibus Rerum quod toto Mundo in tres partes Diviso scilicet in Europam Asiam Africam for America was not then Discovered Europa in quatuor Dividitur Regna scilicet Primum Romanum Secundum Constantinopolitanum Tertium Regnum Hiberniae quod jam translatum est in Anglos Quartum Regnum Hispaniae Ex quo patet quod Rex Angliae Regnum suum sunt de Eminentioribus Antiquioribus Regibus Regnis totius Europae The Antiquity and Precedence of the King of England was allo'wd him wholly on the Account of his Kingdom of Ireland Perhaps it will be said That this Subordination of the Kingdom of Ireland to the Kingdom of England proceeds from Ireland's being Annex'd to and as it were united with the Imperial Crown of England by several Acts of Parliament both in England and Ireland since King Iohns time But how farr this Operates I shall Enquire more fully hereafter I shall only at present Observe that I conceive little more is Effected by these Statutes Than that Ireland shall not be Alien'd or Separated from the King of England who cannot hereby dispose of it otherwise than in Legal Succession along with England and that whoever is King of England is ipso facto King of Ireland and the Subjects of Ireland are oblig'd to Obey him as their Liege Lord. To proceed therefore After both Crowns were united on the Death of Richard the First without Issue in the Royal Person of King Iohn He about the Twelfth Year of his Reign of England went again into Ireland viz. the Twenty Eight day of Iune 1210. and Math. Paris tells us pag. 220. Cum Venisset ad Dublinensem Civitatem Occurrerunt ei ibidem plus quam 20 Reguli illius Regionis qui omnes Timore maximo preterriti homagium ei Fidelitatem fecerunt Fecit quoque Rex ibidem Construere Leges Consuetudines Anglicanas ponens Vicecomites aliosque Ministros qui populum Regni illius juxta Leges Anglicanas Judicarent His Son King Henry the Third came to the Crown the Nineteenth of October 1216. and in November following he Granted to Ireland a Magna Charta Dated at Bristol 12 November the First Year of his Reign 'T is Prefaced that for the Honour of God and Advancement of Holy Church by the Advice of his Council of England whose names are particularly recited He makes the following Grant to Ireland And then goes on Exactly Agreeable to the Magna Charta which he granted to England only in ours we have Civitas Dublin Avenliffee instead of Civitas London and Thamesis with other Alterations of the like kind where Needful But ours is Eight years older than that which he granted to England it not being till the Ninth Year of his Reign and ours is the First Year This Magna Charta of Ireland Concludes thus Quia vero sigillum nondum Habuimus presentem Cartam Sigillis Venerabilis Patris nostri Domini Gualt Apost Sedis Legati Willelmi Mar eschalli Comitis Pembrooke Rectoris nostri Regni nostri secimus Sigillari Testibus omnibus praenominatis alijs Multis Dâ—…t per Manus Praedictorum Domini Legati Willelmi Marescalli Apud Bristol Duodecimo die Novembr Regni nostri Anno Primo An Antient Coppy of this Magna Charta of Ireland is to be found in the Red Book of the Exchequer Dublin In February following in the First Year like wise of his Reign
under the three first Kings of Ireland of the Norman Race the Laws and Liberties of the People of England were granted to the People of Ireland And that neither of these three Kings Established those Laws in Ireland by any Power of the Parliament of England but by the free Consent Allowance and Acceptance of the People of Ireland Hen. II. first introduced the Laws of England into Ireland in a Publick Assembly of the Irish at Lismore and Allowed them the Freedom of Parliaments to be held in Ireland as they were held in England King John at the Request and by the Consent of the Irish did appoint the Laws of England to be of Force in Ireland and tho' he did not this till the Twelfth year of his Reign of England yet he did it not as King of England but as Lord of Ireland For the Crown of England came to him by Descent from his Brother Richard who had no Regal Power in Ireland and what his Brother had not could not descend to him Henry the Third in the first year of his Reign gave Ireland a Magna Charta and in the Twelfth year of his Reign did provide That all the Laws of England should be observ'd in Ireland and that the Charter granted to the Irish by his Father King Iohn under his Seal when he was in that Kingdom should be kept inviolably And from the Days of these Three Kings have England and Ireland been both Govern'd by the like Forms of Government under one and the same Supreme Head the King of England yet so as both Kingdoms remain'd Separate and Distinct in their several Jurisdictions under that One Head as are the Kingdoms of England and Scotland at this day without any Subordination of the One to the Other It were endless to mention all Records and Precedents that might be quoted for the Establishment of the Laws of England in Ireland I shall therefore enter no farther into that Matter but therein refer to Lord Chief Justice Cook Pryn Reyly c. If now we Enquire What were those Laws of England that became thus Established in Ireland Surely we must first reckon the Great Law of Parliaments which England so justly Challenges and all Mankind have a Right to By the Law of Parliament I mean that Law where by all Laws receive their Sanction The Free Debates and Consent of the People by Themselves or their Chosen Representatives That this was a main Branch of the English Law Established in this Kingdom and the very Foundation of our Future Legislature appears manifest from Parliaments being so early convok'd in Ireland as the fore-mention'd Precedents express Mr. Pryn acknowledges one in Hen. II's time pag. 259. against the 4th Instit. but makes a very false Conclusion that there appears no Footsteps of a Parliament afterwards till the third year of Edward the Second because the Acts of that Parliament are the first that are Printed in our Irish Statute-Book For so we may argue the Parliaments of England to be of later Date than pretended when we find the first Printed Acts in Keeble to be no older than the 9th of Hen. III. Whereas 't is most certain that Parliaments have been held in England some Ages before that After this Great Law of Parliaments we may reckon the Common Law of England whether it relates to Regulating and Setling of Property and Estates in Goods or Land or to the Iudiciary and Executive parts of the Law and the Ministers and Process thereof or to Criminal Cases These surely were all Establish'd in this Country by the three first Kings of Ireland of the Norman Race Let us now consider the state of the Statute Laws of England under these three Kings and their Predecessors For by the Irish Voluntary Submission to and Acceptance of the Laws and Government of England we must repute them to have submitted themselves to these likewise till a Regular Legislature was Establish'd amongst them in pursuance of that Submismission and Voluntary Acceptance And here we shall find that in those Times viz. from the Norman Conquest to Henry the Third's time inclusive the Statute-Laws of England were very few and slender 'T is true that before the 12th of Hen. III. we find amongst the English Historians frequent mention of the Laws of Edward the Confessor William the Conquerour Hen. I. Hen. II. King Iohn and Hen. III. All which are only Charters or several Grants of Liberties from the King which nevertheless had the force of Acts of Parliament and laid as great Obligations both upon Prince and People as Acts of Parliament do at this day Whereof we may read several Proofs in the Princes Case Cook 's 8th Report But these were only so many Confirmations of each other and all of them Sanctions of the Common Laws and Liberties of the People of England ab Antiquo Usitatae comprohatae per totam terram in quibus ipsi eorum Patres nati nutriti sunt as the words of the Manuscript Chronicle of Litchfield express it The Laws of Edward the Confessor held in so great Veneration in Antient Times per universum Regnum corroboratae confirmatae prius inventae Constitutae fuerunt Tempore Regis Edgari Avi sui Verum tamen post mortem ipsius Regis Edgari usque ad Coronationem Sancti Regis Edwardi which was 67 years praedictae Leges Sopitae sunt penitus intermissae Sed postquam Rex Edwardus in Regno sublimatus fuit Consilio Baronum Angliae Legem illam sopitam Excitavit Excitam Reparavit Reparatam Decoravit Decoratam Confirmavit confirmatae vocantur Lex Sancti Regis Edwardi non quod ipse primus eam ad invenisset sed quod Reparavit Restituitque as the said Litchfield Chronicle has it These Laws of Edward the Confessor were transcribed by Ingulphus Abbot of Croy land under William the Conqueror and are annexed to his History The Laws of William the Conqueror are but a Confirmation of the Laws of Edward the Confessor with some small alterations as the very Letter of those Laws themselves express it Hoc quoque praecipimus ut omnes habeant teneant Leges Edwardi Regis in omnibus Rebus adauctis his quas constituimus ad Utilitatem Anglorum The Laws of Henry I. which are in the Red Book of the Exchequer in the custody of the Kings Remembrancer in England are but a summary confirmation both of the Laws of Edward the Confessor and William the First as the Charter it self expresses it Lagam Regis Edwardi vobis Reddo cum illis emendationibus quibus Pater meus emendavit Consilio Baronum suorum The Laws of Henry II. called Constitutiones Clarendoniae and the Assize of Clarendon in the 2d part of Cooks Inst. p. 6. are all but confirmations and vindications of the King 's just Prerogative against the Usurpations of the Pope and
26 Hen. 8. c. 3. and the Act of Faculties 25 Hen. 8. c. 21. though each of them by express words comprize All his Majesties Subjects and Dominions were not receiv'd as Laws in Ireland till the former was Enacted there 28 H. 8. c. 4. and the latter the 28 Hen. 8. c. 19. and so the Stature Restoring to the Crown all Jurisdiction Ecclesiastical made in England Anno 1 Eliz. c. 1. and therein giving Power to Erect an Ecclesiastical High-Commission-Court in England and Ireland yet was not of Force in Ireland till Enacted there Anno 2 Eliz. c. 1. And tho the said English Act in relation to Erecting such an High-Commission Court was Repeal'd 17 Car. 1. c. 11 and the Repeal confirm'd the 13 Car. 2. c. 12 And the late Bill of Rights 1 W. and M. Ses. 2. c. 2. in England has damn'd all such Courts Yet the Act in Ireland 2 Eliz. c. 1. remains still in force here and so it was lately declar'd here by the Lord High-Chancellour Porter Lord Chief Justice Reynel Lord Chief Baron Hely Mr. Justice Cox Mr. Justice Ieffreyson in the Case of Dr. Thomas Hacket late Bishop of Down who was depriv'd of the said Bishoprick by such a Commission for great Enormities the Commissioners being Dr. Dopping late Bishop of Meath Dr. King the present Bishop of London-Derry and Dr. Wiseman late Bishop of Dromore And truly I see no more Reason for Binding Ireland by the English Laws under the General Words of all his Majesties Dominions or Subjects than there is for Binding Scotland by the same for Scotland is as much his Dominion and Scots-men as much his Subjects as Ireland and Irish-men If it be said That Scotland is an Antient Separate and Distinct Kingdom from England I say So is Ireland The Difference is Scotland continued separate from the Kings of England till of late years and Ireland continued separate from England but a very little while in the Person of King Iohn before the Death of his Father and of his Brother Richard the First without issue But then 't is to be considered that there was a Possibility or even a Probability that Ireland might have continued separate from the Crown of England even to this very day if Richard the First had left behind him a Numerous Progeny Secondly As to such English Statutes as particularly Name Ireland and are therefore said to be of Force in this Kingdom tho' never Enacted here I shall consider only the more Antient Precedents that are offered in Confirmation of this Doctrine For as to those of later Date 't is these we complain of as bearing hard on the Liberties of this Country and the Rights of our Parliaments and therefore these ought not to be produced as Arguments against us I presume if I can shew that the Antient Precedents that are produced do not conclude against us it will follow that the Modern Instances given ought not to conclude against us that is to say plainly These ought not to have been made as they are as wanting Foundation both from Authority and Reason The Antient Precedents of English Statutes particularly Naming Ireland and said to be made in England with a Design of Binding Ireland are chiefly these three 1. Statutum Hiberniae 14 H. 3. 2. Ordinatio pro Statu Hiberniae 17 Edw. 1. 3. And the Act that all Staple Commodities passing out of England or Ireland shall be carried to Callis as long as the Staple is at Callis 2 Hen. 6. c. 4. on which Hussey delivered his Opinion as we shall see more fully hereafter These Statutes especially the two first being made for Ireland as their Titles import have given occasion to think that the Parliament of England have a Right to make Laws for Ireland without the Consent of their Chosen Representatives But if we Enquire farther into this matter we shall find this Conclusion not fairly Deduced First The Statutum Hiberniae 14 Hen. 3. as 't is to be found in the Collection of English Statutes is plainly thus The Judges in Ireland conceiving a Doubt concerning Inheritances devolved to Sisters or Coheirs viz. Whether the younger Sisters ought to hold of the Eldest Sister and do Homage unto her for their Portions or of the Chief Lord and do Homage unto him therefore Girald Fitz Maurice the then Lord Justice of Ireland dispatcht four Knights to the King in England to bring a Certificate from thence of the Practice there used and what was the Common-Law of England in that Case Whereupon Hen. 3. in this his Certificate or Rescript which is called Statutum Hiberniae meerly informs the Justice what the Law and Custom was in England viz. That the Sisters ought to hold of the Chief Lord and not of the Eldest Sister And the close of it commands that the foresaid Customs that be used within our Realm of England in this Case be Proclaimed throughout our Dominion of Ireland and be there observ'd Teste meipso apud Westminst 9. Feb. An. Reg. 14. From whence 't is manifest that this Statutum Hiberniae was no more than a Certificate of what the common Law of England was in that Case which Ireland by the Original Compact was to be governed by And shews no more that therefore the Parliament of England may bind Ireland than it would have proved that the Common Wealth of Rome was subject to Greece if after Rome had received the Law of the Twelve Tables they had sent to Greece to know what the Law was in some Special Case The Statute call'd Ordinatio pro Statu Hiberniae made at Notingham the 17th of Edward the First and to be found in Pultons Collection pag. 76. Edit Lond. 1670. was certainly never Received or of Force in Ireland This is Manifest from the very first Article of that Ordnance which Prohibits the Iustice of Ireland or others the Kings Officers there to Purchase Land in that Kingdom or within their respective Balliwicks without the Kings Licence on pain of Forfeitures But that this has ever been Otherwise and that the Lords Justices and other Officers here have Purchas'd Lands in Ireland at their own Will and Pleasure needs no Proof to those who have the least knowledge of this Country Nor does it appear by any Inquisition Office or other Record that any one ever Forfeited on that Account Moreover this Ordinatio pro Statu Hiberniae is really in it self No Act of Parliament but meerly an Ordinance of the King and his Privy Council in England which appears as well from the Preamble to the said Ordinance as from this Observation likewise That King Edward the First held no Parliament in the 17th year of his Reign Or if this were a Parliament this Ordinatio pro Statu Hiberniae is the only Act thereof that is Extant But 't is very improbable that only this single Ordinance should Appear if any such Parliament were call'd together Thirdly As to the Staple-Act 2
Encouraging Shipping and Navigation by express name Mentions and Binds Ireland and by the last Clause in the Act Obliges all Ships belonging thereto importing any Goods from our Foreign Plantations to touch first at England Fourthly The Acts Prohibiting the Exportation of Wooll from Ireland to any Country except to England do likewise strongly Bind us and by the 12 Car. 2. c. 32. it was made highly penal on us and by the 14th of Car. 2. c. 18. 't is made Felony To these three last Acts I must confess I have nothing to urge to take off their Efficacy Name us they do most certainly and Bind us so as we do not transgress them But how Rightfully they do this is the matter in Question This I am sure of that before these Acts in King Charles the Second's Time the Eldest of which is not over Thirty-Seven years there is not one positive full Precedent to be met with in all the Statute-Book of an English Act Binding the Kingdom of Ireland And on this Account we may venture to assert That these are at least Innovations on us as not being warranted by any former Precedents And shall Proceedings only of Thirty-Seven Years standing be urg'd against a Nation to Deprive them of the Rights and Liberties which they Enjoy'd for Five Hundred Years before and which were Invaded without and against their Consent and from that day to this have been constantly complain'd of Let any English Heart that stands so Iustly in Vindication of his own Rights and Liberties answer this Question and I have done I am now arriv'd at our Present Days under the Happy Government of His Majesty King WILLIAM the Third and I am sorry to reflect That since the late Revolution in these Kingdoms when the Subjects of England have more strenuously than ever Asserted their own Rights and the Liberty of Parliaments it has pleased them to bear harder on their Poor Neighbours than has ever yet been done in many Ages foregoing I am sure what was then done by that Wise and Just Body of Senators was perfectly out of Good Will and Kindness to us under those Miseries which our Afflicted Country of Ireland then suffered But I fear some Men have since that made use of what was then done to other Purposes than at first intended Let us now see what that was and consider the Circumstances under which it was done In the year 1689. when most oâ—… the Protestant Nobility Gentry and Clergy of Ireland were driven out of that Kingdom by the Insolencies and Barbarities of the Irish Papists who were then it Arms throughout the Kingdom and in all Places of Authority under King Iames newly Return'd to them out of France the only Refuge we had to fly to was in England where Multitudes continued for many Months destitute of all manner of Relief but such as the Charity of England afforded which indeed was very Munificent and never to be forgotten The Protestant Clergy of Ireland being thus Banish'd from their Benefices many of them Accepted such small Ecclesiastical Promotions in England as the Benevolence of well dispos'd Persons presented them with But this being directly contrary to a Statute in this Kingdom in the 17 and 18 of Charles the Second Cap. 10. Intituled An Act for Disabling of Spiritual Persons from holding Benefices or other Ecclesiastical Dignities in England or Wales and in Ireland at the same time The Protestant Irish Clergy thought they could not be too secure in avoiding the Penalty of the last mention'd Act and therefore Apply'd themselves to the Parliament of England and obtain'd an Act in the first year of King William and Queen Mary c. 29. Intituled An Act for the Relief of the Protestant Irish Clergy And this was the first Attempt that was made for Binding Ireland by an Act in England since his Majesty's Happy Accession to the Throne of these Kingdoms Afterwards in the same year and same Session Chap. 34. there pass'd an Act in England Prohibiting all Trade and Commerce with France both from England and Ireland This also binds Ireland but was during the Heat of the War in that Kingdom when 't was impossible to have a regular Parliament therein all being in the hands of the Irish Papists Neither do we complain of it as hindring us from corresponding with the King's Enemies for 't is the Duty of all Good Subjects to abstain from that But as Scotland tho' the King's Subjects Claims an Exemption from all Laws but what they Assent to in Parliament so we think this our Right also When the Banish'd Laity of Ireland observ'd the Clergy thus careful to secure their Properties and provide for the worst as well as they could in that Juncture when no other means could be taken by a Regular Parliament in Ireland they thought it likewise adviseable for them to do something in relation to their Concerns And accordingly they obtain'd the Act for the better Security and Relief of their Majesties Protestant Subjects of Ireland 1 W. and M. Ses. 2. c. 9. Wherein King Iames's Irish Parliament at Dublin and all Acts and Attainders done by them are declared void 'T is likewise thereby Enacted that no Protestant shall suffer any Prejudice in his Estate or Office by reason of his absence out of Ireland since December 25. 1685. and that there should be a Remittal of the Kings Quit-Rent from 25 December 1688. to the end of the War Thus the Laity thought themselves secure And we cannot wonder that during the Heat of a Bloody War in this Kingdom when it was impossible to Secure our Estates and Properties by a Regular Parliament of our own we should have recourse to this Means as the only which then could be had We concluded with our selves that when we had obtained these Acts from the Parliament in England we had gon a great way in securing the like Acts to be passed in a regular Parliament in Ireland whenever it should please God to re-establish us in our own Country For we well knew our own Constitution under Poynings Law That no Act could Pass in the Parliament of Ireland till approved of by the King and Privy Council of England And we knew likewise That all the Lords and others of his Majesties Privy Council in England are Members of the Lords or Commons House of Parliament there And that by obtaining their Assent to Acts of Parliament in Favour of the Irish Protestants they had in a manner pre-engaged their Assent to the like Bills when they should hereafter come before them as Privy Councellors in order to be regularly Transmitted to the Parliament of Ireland there to be passed into Laws of that Kingdom But instead of all this to meet with another Construction of what was done herein and to have it pleaded against us as a Precedent of our Submission and absolute Acquiescence in the Jurisdiction of the Parliaments of England over this Kingdom is what we complain
any Power to Controul the Chancery in Ireland because as Lambard says p. 69 70. The Chancery did follow the King as the Kings Bench did and that as he tells us out of the Lord Chief Justice Scroope the Chancery and the Kings Bench were once but one Place But if this be the ground of the Jurisdiction of the Kings Bench in England over the Kings Bench in Ireland as I am fully perswaded it is the Parliament in England cannot from hence claim any Right of Jurisdiction in Ireland because they claim a Iurisdiction of their own and their Court is not the Kings Court in that proper and strict sence that the Kings Bench is But granting that the Subordination of the Kings Bench in Ireland to the Kings â—…ch in England be rightly concluded from a Writ of Error out of the latter â—…ying on a Judgment in the former I see no Reason from thence to conclude that therefore the Parliament of Ireland is Subordinate to the Parliament in England unless we make any one sort of Subordination or in any one part of Jurisdiction to be a Subordination in all Points and all parts of Jurisdiction The Subjects of Ireland may Appeal to the King in his Bench in England for the Expounding of the Old common and Statute-Law of Ireland will it therefore follow that the Parliament of England shall make New Laws to bind the Subjects in Ireland I see no manner of Consequence in it unless we take Expounding Old Laws or Laws already made in the-Kings Bench and making New Laws in Parliament to be one and the same thing I believe the best Logician in Europe will hardly make a Chain of Syllogisms that from such Premises will regularly induce such a Conclusion To close this Point We find that a Judgment of the Kings Bench in Ireland may be Removed by a Writ of Error to the Parliament in Ireland But the Judgment of the Parliament of Ireland was never question'd in the Parliament of England This Appears from the Prior of Lanthony's Case aforegoing I shall conclude this our Fifth Article with a memorable Passage out of our Irish Statutes which seems to strengthen what we have delivered on the Business of a Writ of Error as well as the chief Doctrine I drive at and that is 28 H. VIII Chap. 19. The Act of Faculties This Statute is a Recital at large of the English Act of the 25 Hen. VIII c. 21. In the Preamble of which English Act 't is Declared That this Your Graces Realm Recognizing no Superiour but Your Grace hath been and yet is free from any Subjection to any Mans Laws but only such as have been Devised within this Realm for the Wealth of the same or to such others as by Sufferance of Your Grace and Your Progenitors the People of the Realm have taken at their Free Liberties by their own Consent and have bound themselves by long Use and Custom to the Observance of c. This Declaration with the other Clauses of the said English Act is verbatim recited in the Irish Act of Faculties and in the said Irish Act it is Enacted That the said English Act and every thing and things therein contained shall be Established Affirmed Taken Obey'd and Accepted within this Land of Ireland as a good and perfect Law and shall be within the said Land of the same Force Effect Quality Condition Strength and Vertue to all Purposes and Intents as it is within the Realm of England if so then the said Clause declares our Right of being bound only by Laws to which we Consent as it does the Right of the People of England And that all Subjects within the said Land of Ireland shall enjoy the Profit and Commodity thereof in like manner as the Kings Subjects of the Realm of England I am now Arrived at our Sixth and Last Article Proposed viz. The Reasons and Arguments that may be be farther Offered on one side and t'other in this Debate I have before taken notice of the Title England pretends over us from Conquest I have likewise enquired into the Precedents on one side and t'other from Acts of Parliament from Records and from Reports of the Learned in the Laws There remains another Pretence or two for this Subordination to be Considered and one is founded on Purchase 'T is said That vast Quantity of Treasure that from time to time has been spent by England in Reducing the Rebellions and carrying on the Wars of Ireland has given them a just Title at least to the Lands and Inheritances of the Rebels and to the absolute Disposal thereof in their Parliament And as particular Examples of this we are told of the great Sums Advanced by England for suppressing the Rebellion of the Irish Papists in 41. and Opposing the late Rebellion since King WILLIAM's Accession to the Throne To this I Answer That in a War there is all Reason imaginable that the Estates of the Unjust Opposers should go to repair the the Damage that is done This I have briefly hinted before But if we consider the Wars of Ireland we shall perceive they do not resemble the common Case of Wars between two Foreign Enemies Ours are rather Rebellions or Intestine Commotions that is The Irish Papists rising against the King and Protestants of Ireland and then 't is plain that if these Latter by the Assistance of their Brethren of England and their Purse do prove Victorious the People of England ought to be fully Repaid But then the manner of their Payment and in what way it shall be Levied ought to be left to the People of Ireland in Parliament Assembled And so it was after the Rebellion of 41. The Adventurers then were at vast Charges and there were several Acts of Parliament in England made for their Re-imbursing by disposing to them the Rebels Lands But after all it was thought Reasonable that the Parliament of Ireland should do this in their own way and therefore the Acts of Settlement and Explanation made all the former English Acts of No Force or at least did very much Alter them in many Particulars as we have Noted before In like manner we allow that England ought to be repaid all their Expences in supressing this late Rebellion All we defire is That in Preservation of our own Rights and Liberties we may do it in our own Methods regularly in our own Parliament And if the Re-imbursement be all that England stands upon what availeth it whether it be done this way or that way so it be done We have an Example of this in Point between England and Holland in the Glorious Revolution under His Present Majesty Holland in Assisting England Expended 600000 Pounds and the English Parliament fairly repay'd them It would have look'd oddly for Holland to have insisted on Disposing of Lord Powis's and other Estates by their own Laws to re-imburse themselves 'T is an Ungenerous thing to villifie good Offices I am far from doing
it but with all possible Gratitude Acknowledge the Mighty Benefits Ireland has often receiv'd from England in helping to suppress the Rebellions of this Counâ—…ry To England's Charitable Assistance our Lives and Fortunes are owing But with all humble Submission I desire it may be considered whether England did not at â—…he same time propose the Prevention of their own Danger that would necessarily have attended our Ruine if so 't was in some measure their own Battels they fought when they fought for Ireland and a great part of their Expence must be reckon'd in their own Defence Another thing alledged against Ireland is this If a Foreign Nation as France or Spain for instance prove prejudicial to England in its Trade or any other way England if it be stronger redresses it self by Force of Arms or Denouncing War and why may not England if Ireland lies cross their Interests restrain Ireland and bind it by Laws and maintain these Laws by Force To this I answer First That it will hardly be instanced that any Nation ever Declared War with another meerly for over-topping them in some signal Advantage which otherwise or but for their Endeavours they might have reaped War only is Justifiable for Injustice done or Violence offer'd or Rights detain'd I cannot by the Law of Nations quarrel with a Man because he going before me in the Road finds a Piece of Gold which possibly if he had not taken it up I might have light upon and gotten 'T is true we often see Wars commenced on this Account under-hand and on Emulation in Trade and Riches but then this is never made the Open Pretence some other Colour it must receive or else it would not look fair which shews plainly that this Pretence of being Prejudicial or of reaping Advantages which otherwise you might partake of is not Iustifiable in it self But granting that it were a good Justification of a War with a Foreign Nation it will make nothing in the Case between England and Ireland for if it did why does it not operate in the same manner between England and Scotland and consequently in like manner draw after it England's binding Scotland by their Laws at Westminster We are all the same Kings Subjects the Children of one Common Parent and tho' we may have our Distinct Rights and Inheritances absolutely within our selves yet we ought not when these do chance a little to interfere to the prejudice of one or t'other side immediately to treat one another as Enemies fair Amicable Propositions should be proposed and when these are not hearkened to then 't is time enough to be at Enmity and use Force The last thing I shall take Notice of that some raise against us is That Ireland is to be look'd upon only as a Colony from England And therefore as the Roman Colonies were subject to and bound by the Laws made by the Senate at Rome so ought Ireland by those made by the Great Council at Westminster Of all the Objections raised against us I take this to be the most Extravagant it seems not to have the least Foundation or Colour from Reason or Record Does it not manifestly appear by the Constitution of Ireland that 't is a Compleat Kingdom within it self Do not the Kings of England bear the Stile of Ireland amongst the rest of their Kingdoms Is this Agreeable to the nature of a Colony Do they use the Title of Kings of Virginia New-England or Mary-Land Was not Ireland given by Henry the Second in a Parliament at Oxford to his Son Iohn and made thereby an Absolute Kingdom separate and wholly Independent on England till they both came United again in him after the Death of his Brother Richard without Issue Have not multitudes of Acts of Parliament both in England and Ireland declared Ireland a Compleat Kingdom Is not Ireland stiled in them All the Kingdom or Realm of Ireland Do these Names agree to a Colony Have we not a Parliament and Courts of Judicature Do these things agree with a Colony This on all hands involves so many Absurdities that I think it deserves nothing more of our Consideration These being the only remaining Arguments that are sometimes mention'd Against us I now proceed to offer what I humbly conceive Demonstrates the Justice of our Cause And herein I must beg the Reader 's Patience if now and then I am forced lightly to touch upon some Particulars foregoing I shall Endeavour all I can to avoid prolix Repetitions but my Subject requires that sometimes I just mention or refer to several Notes before delivered First therefore I say That Ireland should be Bound by Acts of Parliament made in England is against Reason and the Common Rights of all Mankind All Men are by Nature in a state of Equality in respect of Jurisdiction or Dominion This I take to be a Principle in it self so evident that it stands in need of little Proof 'T is not to be conceiv'd that Creatures of the same Species and Rank promiscuously born to all the same Advantages of Nature and the use of the same Faculties should be Subordinate and Subject one to another These to this or that of the same Kind On this Equality in Nature is founded that Right which all Men claim of being free from all Subjection to Positive Laws till by their own Consent they give up their Freedom by entring into Civil Societies for the common Benefit of all the Members thereof And on this Consent depends the Obligation of all Humane Laws insomuch that without it by the Unanimous Opinion of all Iurists no Sanctions are of any Force For this let us Appeal amongst many only to the Iudicious Mr. Hooker's Eccles. Polity Book 1. Sec. 10. Lond. Ed it 1676. Thus He. Howbeit Laws do not take their Constraining force from the Quality of such as Devise them but from that Power which doth give them the strength of Laws That which we spake before concerning the Power of Government must here be applied to the Power of making Laws whereby to Govern which Power God hath over All and by the Natural Law whereunto he hath made all subject the Lawful Power of making Laws to command whole Politick Societies of Men belongeth so properly unto the same entire Societies that for any Prince or Potentate of what kind soever upon Earth to exercise the same of himself and not either by express Commission immediately and personally receiv'd from God or else by Authority derived at the first from their Consent upon whose Persons they impose Laws it is no better than meer Tyranny Laws they are not therefore which Publick Approbation hath not made so But Approbation not only they Give who Personally declare their Assent by Voice Sign or Act but also when others do it in their Names by Right Originally at the least derived from them As in Parliaments Councils c. Again Sith Men Naturally have no full and perfect Power to command whole Politick